3DS Price Dips Below £200 In UK Price Wars

0

After the 3DS debuted, we saw that the UK pricing was a little… off. Even considering VAT, the £229 prices we were seeing seemed rather high. They’ve been dropping, though, and now many retailers are going below £200 — still quite a bit more than the $250 we’re going to get it for here in the states, but getting on towards reasonable.

Will we see similar competition here in the states? Nah. I think this particular price war was borne of high early estimates of what retailers should be charging in the UK. The US price is still far lower than the rest of the world’s, and I don’t think you’re going to see below $250 until at least a few months after release.

In Japan, official orders at Amazon have long been unavailable, and 3rd-party sellers seem to be selling their units for half again the original price. This isn’t unprecedented; in fact, it’s more or less just how Nintendo launches go over there. Man, I wonder what the first 3D Dragon Quest sales will be like?

I added the Afro Kens.

If you can swing it, I’d say your best bet is to wait until a joint like GameStop has the 3DS in stock, and bring in your DS for trade-in credit. You’ll get $30-40 retail — really, you’re not going to find it for much under $250 for a while, so you may as well just go for it and sacrifice your old gear.